STE training & consultancy

Why choose Shufrans TechDocs?

Shufrans TechDocs is the global leader in STE training and consultancy. We offer a range of customised ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training solutions and consultancy services that will help you expand your knowledge of the fundamental principles of documentation management.

APAC Simplified Technical English workshops

Through interactive workshops and exercises, your technical publication and writing team will learn how to standardise content and structure to:

  • Author efficiently
  • Facilitate information exchange
  • Improve overall text readability
  • Publish in multiple channels
  • Reduce maintenance costs for technical information.

What our clients have said about us 

I fully appreciate the advantages and benefits of implementing international language standards to our documentation. 

The technical English writing rules were clearly presented during this webinar. Overall, I have found this webinar to be useful for my work and Shumin responded well to all my questions and clarified the doubts I had before taking this course.

Oxana Barkova, Senior Technical Writer, Technical Documentation Development, IT, Kaspersky Lab


Simplified Technical English is an important topic for our industry. I’ve enjoyed learning about all the rules of STE summarised into bite-sized information over the course of two training days. The quality of this training has been exceptional! 

Andreas Herter, Technical Trainer, Schindler Elevator Corporation

Interested in learning more?

Speak to us today or sign up for one of our upcoming events below.

Our certified Simplified Technical English training workshops are conducted by seasoned industry experts who work according to international standards, while having the flexibility to deal with your specific requirements. Our ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training programme supports the current version of the ASD-STE100 specification, Issue 8, April 2021.

Shufrans TechDocs offers the following STE training programmes & consultancy services:

This training workshop offers the most tailored type of training designed to meet your exact needs. Our trainers will deliver STE training at your preferred on-site location. With Shufrans’ customised training workshop, there will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions, seek clarification and receive personalised STE coaching.

  • 2 to 3 days of highly personalised and extensive classroom training, followed by workshop-style interaction
  • Recommended class size: 5 – 15 participants
  • This course is designed to meet your company’s specific requirements. Our STE trainer will also address some of the commonly encountered questions when technical authors begin writing in STE:
    • How to implement STE while complying with your industry’s regulations?
    • Using STE to meet your project deliverables and long-term business goals
    • How to optimise technical documentation workflow to fully benefit from STE?
    • Which STE checker software suits you best?
  • Practical discussions and activities based on your own content and documentation
    • Rewriting workshop sessions let participants convert existing text to Simplified Technical English.
    • Participants can compare, analyse, and discuss suitable technical writing solutions to reinforce learning.
    • All sessions are moderated by an expert STE trainer.
  • Delivered by an STE expert trainer with broad and in-depth experience in STE implementation worldwide
  • Customised level of ASD-STE100 compliance to suit your business objectives
  • Adjusted to fit your schedule

Day 1 – classroom-type instructionDay 2 – workshop-style interactionDay 3 – Q&A

Overview of ASD-STE100 development & status

Explanation of specification structure

Tea/coffee break

STE writing rules Part 1

Lunch break

STE writing rules applied – exercises & review

Tea/coffee break

STE writing rules Part 2

Adjourn

Vocabulary review

Tea/coffee break

Guidelines for customer specific terms

Lunch break

STE writing rules applied – exercises & review

Tea/coffee break

Writing/ rewriting instruction

Tea/coffee break

Adjourn

Quality improvement issues

Tea/coffee break

Rewriting exercise (own documents)

Lunch break

Rewriting review & presentation

Tea/coffee break

Q & A

Certificate hand-out

Adjourn

Shufrans’ on-site customised ASD-STE100 training workshops aim to help companies with in-house technical writing staff, technical writing teams or departments that are responsible for content and publishing implement STE in a perfectly consistent and coherent manner.

On-site training workshops are ideal for companies that manage medium and large-sized technical writing teams that include professionals such as:

  • Technical Writers
  • Editors
  • Translators
  • QA Managers
  • Documentation Managers
  • ILS Managers
  • Safety Assurance Managers
  • Field Support Engineers
  • Project Managers
  • Product Managers
  • Training Managers
  • Documentation Engineers

It’s all about your needs

An on-site training class will offer you the most personalised form of training based on the nature of your business and industry. Our trainers will prepare a training agenda for your prior approval at least two weeks before class commences.

Dedicated support

During training, your technical team can fully tap on our trainers’ expertise and receive fully customised training support adapted solely for your business needs.

Convenience at your doorstep

An on-site class is also the most convenient option as our trainers will do their best to accommodate your schedule, and conduct training at your preferred location. Last, but not least, an on-site training does away with participants’ travel and accommodation expenses.

Deliverables

Copy of the ASD-STE100 specification, exercises, learning aids, certificate.

On-site classes are available throughout the year. To request for an on-site training session, simply fill out the registration form below.

Please include the following details in your message:

  1. Your requested training date(s):
  2. Number of training days:
  3. Number of participants:

We require a minimum class size of 5 participants for class commencement.

    Your Company*

    Your Name*

    Your preferred training location*

    Your requested training dates*

    Number of training days*

    Number of participants*

    Your Company Email*

    Your Country*

    Every on-site training session is different. For this reason, we will prepare a customised quotation once we receive the following information:

    1. Your requested training date(s):
    2. Number of training days:
    3. Number of participants:

    We require a minimum class size of 5 participants for class commencement.

      Your Company*

      Your Name*

      Your preferred training location*

      Your requested training dates*

      Number of training days*

      Number of participants*

      Your Company Email*

      Your Country*

      Our open or shared STE training classes offer a highly accessible training platform where you can interact with participants from other industries during a 2-day training session. Shared STE training classes are organised roughly 6 times a year in various locations worldwide. Our trainers will deliver a comprehensive STE training curriculum to impart relevant STE writing techniques. This helps you to use effectively and accurately use STE in practice.

      • 2 days of extensive classroom training and workshop-style interaction
      • Recommended class size: 6 – 10 participants
      • Shufrans’ STE training methodology prepares you for future STE implementation. Our training methods focuses on:
        • STE rules & compliance
        • Proper writing techniques that optimise your content development workflow and reduce your publishing & translation costs
        • Highly practical use of the STE specification to fulfill your training objectives
      • STE industry solutions based on available case-studies from Shufrans or your individual documentation.
      • Practical discussions and activities based on your own content and documentation
        • Rewriting workshop sessions let participants convert existing text to Simplified Technical English.
        • Participants can compare, analyse, and discuss suitable technical writing solutions to reinforce learning.
        • All sessions are moderated by an expert STE trainer.
      • Delivered by an STE expert trainer with broad experience in implementing STE across industries.
      • Full ASD-STE100 compliance
      • Organised ~ 6 times per year in convenient locations worldwide.

      Day 1 – classroom-type instructionDay 2 – workshop-style interaction

      Overview of ASD-STE100 development & status

      Explanation of specification structure

      Tea/coffee break

      STE writing rules

      Lunch break

      STE writing rules applied – exercises & review

      Tea/coffee break

      Vocabulary review

      Adjourn

      Writing/rewriting instruction

      Tea/coffee break

      Rewriting exercise (own documents)

      Lunch break

      Rewriting review

      Tea/coffee break

      Q & A

      Certificate hand-out

      Adjourn

      Open STE training classes are ideal for companies that manage small and medium-sized technical writing teams that include professionals such as:

      • Technical Writers
      • Editors
      • Translators
      • QA Managers
      • Documentation Managers
      • ILS Managers
      • Safety Assurance Managers
      • Field Support Engineers
      • Project Managers
      • Product Managers
      • Training Managers
      • Documentation Engineers

      2-day training workshop to kickstart your professional STE writing career

      An open STE training class offers you 2 intensive training days when you can analyse and edit your own documentation with the help of our STE trainer. The training curriculum is designed to include lectures, course work and exercises that will prepare you for STE compliant authoring of technical manuals.

      Learn and exchange ideas on an interactive platform

      You will join other specialists from industries’ leading companies and gain access to new solutions and learning approaches to similar technical writing problems that you face at work. Our open STE training classes offer you a great opportunity to benchmark your technical writing workflow against industry leaders. Discussions will be moderated by our STE trainers.

      Availability

      Shufrans’ open STE training classes are organised roughly 6 times a year in various locations. You will always find an available training session just next door. This helps you reduce your travelling time and costs. Please refer to upcoming training class locations.

      Deliverables

      Copy of the ASD-STE100 specification, exercises, learning aids, certificate.

      Open STE classes are available throughout the year. To register for an open STE training class, simply fill out the registration form below.

      Please include the following details in your message:

      1. Open training class location: Please refer to upcoming training class locations.
      2. Number of participants:

      We require a minimum class size of 6 participants for class commencement. If there are more than 2 participants from your company who will attend this training, please contact us for applicable discounts.

        Your Company*

        Your Name*

        Which Open STE training class location do you prefer?*

        Number of participants*

        Your Company Email*

        Your Country*

        EUR 1,500 per person (VAT not applicable)

        If there are more than 2 participants from your company who will attend this training, please contact us for applicable discounts.

        After STE training, writers would normally need sufficient time to adjust to new writing guidelines. Shufrans works with your staff to support any ongoing STE continuous improvement processes so that they become effective practitioners of the Simplified Technical English language. We can meet on-site with your staff, or conduct online Q&A sessions for your trained writers.

        Shufrans also provides proofreading and editing services to kick-start and support your STE implementation. You can either send us your content for an STE review, or participate in an online compliance review as you prepare your document for translation.

        In some cases, our customers ask us to review their first manual written in STE or to rewrite a manual for future reference purposes. We can also help you build your STE compliant technical terms dictionary, giving you optimum control over downstream documentation processes such as translation.

        It is also possible to arrange for an STE expert on-site to facilitate any ongoing implementation process.

        If your business requires regulatory compliance with the ASD-STE100 standard, Shufrans can support your technical writing team to make sure that they author fully ASD-STE100 compliant documentation.

        Once trained, technical writers can apply STE principles to every content creation steps. A training approach ensures that your content is easily readable and also optimised for future translations.

        To help you follow STE rules correctly, multiple STE checker tools have been created by various companies. Some were created strictly for the purpose of enforcing STE rules, while others regulate writing processes.

        Our preferred checker software tool is the Acrolinx ASD-STE100 solution module. Find out more.

        To implement STE in your organization, Shufrans offers crucial support in every step of the way. We help your writers comply with STE throughout the entire product documentation life cycle:

        • Training
        • Dictionary building
        • Checker software implementation
        • Customisation
        • Integration
        • Rewriting
        • Editing
        • QA
        • Consultancy.

        The customers Ms Shumin Chen and Dr Frans Wijma have provided training and consultancy for include:

        • AAC Global Oy (Finland)
        • ABB (Finland)
        • Air Arabia (United Arab Emirates)
        • Amdocs (Israel)
        • arvato technical information S.L. (Spain)
        • BAE Systems (UK)
        • Beriev (Russia)
        • Beta-Air (Russia)
        • Black & Decker (UK, USA)
        • Boeing (USA)
        • Canon (Japan)
        • CDG, a Boeing Company (USA)
        • Citec (Finland)
        • CUCBC (Canada)
        • Check Point (Israel)
        • Cisco (USA)
        • Cobham (UK)
        • Creative (Singapore)
        • Danaher (USA)
        • Digimarc (USA)
        • EADS (Germany)
        • ECI Telecom (Israel)
        • EGO Translating Company (Russia)
        • EINSA (Spain)
        • Electrolux (Germany, Poland, Sweden)
        • Elekta (UK)
        • Elmen Consultants Limited (UK)
        • Embraer (Brazil)
        • Eurocopter (Germany)
        • FAA (USA)
        • FHI (Japan)
        • Finn-Power (Finland)
        • Flight Refuelling (UK)
        • Fluke (USA)
        • Fokker Elmo (Netherlands)
        • Garuda Indonesia (Indonesia)
        • GMF AeroAsia (Indonesia)
        • GMF Gouda (Netherlands)
        • Goodrich
        • Google (USA)
        • Hach (USA)
        • Hach Lange (Germany)
        • Hansem EZ User Guides (Korea)
        • Heartsome (Korea)
        • Hewlett Packard (Netherlands)
        • HOMAG (Germany)
        • Honeywell (USA)
        • Huawei (China)
        • IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries, Israel)
        • IDE Technologies (Israel)
        • IFN (Israel)
        • IHI (Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Japan)
        • Indra (Spain)
        • IMPAC (USA)
        • IRKUT (Russia)
        • Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (Germany)
        • Kubota (Japan)
        • L-3 Communications (Canada)
        • L-3 Wescam (Canada)
        • Larsen & Toubro (India)
        • Live Linx (Israel)
        • Logistikzentrum der Bundeswehr (Germany)
        • Lufthansa Systems (Switzerland)
        • Manualise (Netherlands)
        • Meggitt (Switzerland)
        • Microsoft (USA)
        • MoD (Australia)
        • Nautilus (USA)
        • Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Netherlands)
        • NICE Systems (Israel)
        • n-Projects (Netherlands)
        • Omron (Japan)
        • Pakistan International Airlines (Pakistan)
        • Parker Aerospace (USA)
        • Patria (Finland)
        • Peking University (PKU, China)
        • Philips (China, Hong Kong, Singapore)
        • RAF (UK)
        • Radisys (USA)
        • Rheinmetall (Germany, Netherlands)
        • Rheinmetall Technical Publications (Germany)
        • RMMV (Netherlands)
        • Rohde & Schwarz (Germany)
        • Rolls-Royce (USA, UK)
        • Royal Australian Navy (Australia)
        • SAAB (Sweden)
        • SafeNet (Israel)
        • Samsung (Korea)
        • Sandvik (Finland)
        • SEAT (Spain)
        • Servicios de Ingenieria Aeroespacial S.C. (Mexico)
        • Shikoku Kakoki (Japan)
        • Siemens (Germany)
        • Sikorsky (USA)
        • Sogeti (France)
        • SonoVision (France)
        • Spoorwegpolitie (Railway Police, Netherlands)
        • TAI/TUSAS – Turkish Aerospace Industries (Turkey)
        • Tata (India)
        • TCS (India)
        • Teldix (Germany)
        • Tellabs (Denmark)
        • Tetra Pak (Italy)
        • Translatum (Finland)
        • Triview (Netherlands)
        • UTC Aerospace Systems (India)
        • Vibro-Meter (Switzerland)
        • Volare Engineering (Mexico)
        • Volkswagen (Germany)
        • Voortman Steel Group (Netherlands)
        • Watchguard (USA).

        We use the latest version of the ASD-STE100 specification: Issue 8, April 2021.

        Ready to learn more?

        Request for a full course description below
        Full course description in PDF

        Shufrans TechDocs helps great companies like yours

        • One of my favorite STE writing rules is the use of active voice. This rule is easy to implement when using word document. I like your energy when you teach and when you answer our questions. Thank you and it was a fun, clear course to go through with! All the best to you, Shumin!
          Master TCLoc Programme in Technical Communication and Localisation University of Strasbourg
        • The course was intellectually challenging and stimulating. “Less is more” as an STE principle is something that I quite like :). For a beginner, there is quite a lot of material to process, and study in a short time. On the plus side, Shumin presented the material intelligibly and gave sufficient number of examples during her lectures. Her presentations were very well-prepared, and I enjoyed her classes. 🙂
          TCLoc Master’s Student Technical Communication and Localization
        • Rule 3.6 Use only the active voice in procedural writing is my favourite STE rule. Use the active voice as much as possible in descriptive writing. In my opinion, this rule would avoid a lot of translated texts misunderstandings.  Thank you for the course and being flexible. You accepted moving the course to September to give us the opportunity to complete the TCTrainNet unit.
          TCLoc Master’s Programme University of Strasbourg
        • This course shares a good overview of structure, purpose, history, and contextual information about STE. The limited vocabulary and restricted list of words, short sentence constructions, active voice, and imperative verb usage are valuable takeaways messages to act upon in Simplified English. The examples used in this training are quite realistic and it is very likely that I will recommend this STE training to someone else.
          Roland Kiser Terminology Coordinator, Schindler
        • The introduction to the ASD-STE100 gave me a nice and clear overview of what to expect in the two training days that followed. Consistent language and spelling in STE are the rules I like best. The list of approved and unapproved verbs was a nice surprise for me. Shumin gave a highly practical STE training using relevant and pragmatic examples that relate closely to our field of work.
          Maikel Kornuit Technical Writer, Triview
        • Keep doing what you’re doing – it’s a good subject and a very helpful class! I like the list of approved words. This could really help clarify and harmonize the writing in an organization. My other favourite STE rule being: Do not write noun clusters of more than 3 nouns. It helps when reading and writing texts also outside of STE.
          TCLoc Master’s Programme Student University of Strasbourg
        • I am giving this training a 10/10. There was a good introductory and explanation to describe the 2-day training seminar. Rule 1.1 0 lets me use words that are: approved in the dictionary / technical names / technical verbs and is one rule I like very much because of its flexibility. I think rule 1.1 is the most critical and important for STE dictionary. Sometimes I have to use non-approved words as an exception, but I will try to keep this rule 1.1 in my documents for good measure. Although some of the exercises were tricky, they remind me of each rule application at that time. So they were practical for my role as a technical writer. I want to recommend this course to current technical writers in Korea or engineers who are interested in writing their own documents effectively.  
          Seung Eun Lee, Technical Writer DB HiTek
        • My favorite STE writing rules: * Rule 1.9 and Rule 1.10 When you must select a technical name, use one which is short and easy to understand. Both rules ensure a better understanding of technical contents. * Rule 3.6 Do not use a past participle with a helping verb to make a complex verb. Past tenses may be adequate for marketing texts due to stylistic reasons, but not for technical contents, where precision and clarity play a major role. * Rule 5.1 Keep procedural sentences as short as possible. The description of procedures in technical manuals has to be as simple as possible to avoid confusing the reader.
          TCLoc Master’s Student University of Strasbourg
        • Frans is an exceptionnally talented linguist, in addition to an excellent marketing and technical representative for his company. Boeing has had the pleasure of working with Frans as the liaison for our activities and hopes to continue having him support us in that role and any future role he may have with the company.
          Ligia McLean International Business Mgr., The Boeing Company
        • Frans has demonstrated that he is an expert in restricted languages and in particular ASD Simplified Technical English (STE). He has given successful presentations on the subject at S1000D User Forums that were very well received. He is an expert in developing systems that check conformance to restricted English standards.
          Mike Day Business Advisor, Rolls-Royce Defense Aerospace


         

        Ms Shumin Chen

        Principal ASD-STE100 Trainer & Consultant

        twitter linkedin


        The principal trainer is Ms. Shumin Chen who has helped many companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Ms Chen found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

        Ms. Chen received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist, documentation expert and private pilot who has been in the field of controlled language, multilingual documentation and aerospace & defense standards for 15 years, working with customers worldwide. STE classes taught include Boeing, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, EADS, Eurocopter, FAA, RAF, Philips, Fluke, Watchguard, Elekta, Hach, Tellabs, Omron and Kubota.

        Dr. Wijma and Ms. Chen are regarded as the leading experts in Simplified Technical English (STE) implementation. They received very professional positive feedback and references are available on request.

         

        Ready to make STE your strategic partner?

        Contact us today for more information or a quote.
        Request a consultation